Stamina 890 Airbike
by - Written: Mar 26 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: fan, wide base, monitor, fairly easy assembly
Cons: no major problems
The Bottom Line: The Stamina 890 Airbike is a good choice for at-home fitness!
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| CindyJean's Full Review: Stamina Products 890 Dual-Action Air-Resistance Bi... |
Oh The Good Old Days!
I have a box of clothes in my closet from “the good old days.” That would be back in high school when I was at the lowest weight of my life and looking pretty good.
Then real life began. I got pregnant, went through a depression, and started packing on weight. For several years I never really did much to stop the weight gain, and probably exacerbated the problem by going through four pregnancies in five years.
Finally last summer I decided that enough was enough. I’ve been fat long enough and its time to make a change. I researched gyms and joined the Medford, Oregon 24 Hour Fitness Sport. I even sprung for two sessions with the trainer and that was well worth the hundred dollars ($50 per session). I was finally losing weight!
A new job opportunity opened up for my husband in Alaska, of all places, and we moved away from my old gym. Between Christmas and being out of the gym for several months (we were not doing well financially, the job just didn’t pan out) I was starting to gain the weight back. When we finally got a job that put is in position to be able to afford the gym, we ended up relocating (housing was provided) and are now about 50 minutes away from the nearest health club.
No Gym? What to Do!?!?
Since I couldn’t go to the gym any longer, I decided that I needed a home fitness machine.
My top choice for a home fitness machine was an elliptical machine. I shopped around and wasn’t impressed. The cheapest one in Sears ran about $350. I found several online, many even with free shipping, for about $250. For some reason those free shipping offers don’t include Alaska and Hawaii most of the time, and I am now and Alaskan. To ship something that heavy would have cost nearly as much as buying the machine from Sears.
I noticed in my shopping trips that stationary bicycles were much more readily available, and substantially cheaper. Still, I liked the elliptical machines because they did a total body workout (upper and lower bodies) rather than just working out the legs.
At Wal-Mart I happened to notice that they had stationery bicycles with moving ‘handlebars’ to work your upper body in addition to your legs. I nearly choked when I saw that their sale price was $52!
Needless to say, my cheapskate nature took over and I gave up on the idea of an elliptical machine and took home the Stamina 890 Airbike!
Assembly
I despise product assembly. That’s what God gave me a husband for, to put things together. I have always looked at that type of work as ‘guy stuff.’ It’s not that I can’t do it, I just hate it and prefer not to.
Unfortunately, hubby was doing some long hours when I bought the bike and I knew if I had to wait on him to get to it I would be waiting still! He’s a busy guy and the Stamina 890 Airbike came with a lot of the assembly left undone so it would fit into its box.
Tools
All needed tools are supplied in the box that the Stamina 890 Airbike comes in. These include a wrench (this is a very strange creation indeed, not what you would likely think of if you’re picturing a wrench right now), a 6mm Allen wrench with a Phillips head screwdriver on one end, and a 4 mm Allen wrench.
I say all needed tools because the directions say you will need a hammer but you will not. I put this thing together and never found spot where one would be necessary.
Parts
The instruction manual shows diagrams of all the parts included for use in the assembly process. I found the diagrams to be a bit misleading and actually caused me a bit of confusion a few times as to whether or not I had the proper pieces.
The diagrams of the actual parts (as opposed to nuts/bolts/pieces) were much clearer, but mainly only because the parts are larger than the assembly pieces.
Assembly Instructions
Don’t panic, I’m not going to tell you how to put the darn thing together. That would waste my time and yours.
I will say, however, that the instruction manual gives very detailed, step-by-step instructions that make assembly fairly easy. If the diagram of the nuts/bolts/pieces had been clearer, assembly would have been a snap with directions like these. As it was assembly was fairly easy.
Overall
The assembly process wasn’t too terribly difficult. Had I been able to find and identify my pieces more easily it would have actually been a piece of cake. Still, I had the Stamina 890 Airbike together in about an hour, maybe slightly less. Somebody practiced in product assembly could have probably done it in about 30 minutes.
Features
Handlebar
The Stamina 890 Airbike comes with a handlebar that you can either use, or disconnect to take them out of use.
I personally like to use them because they add a new dimension to my workouts and burn extra calories, but I don’t always because I often prefer to read while I’m working out and I can’t do that without my hands. It’s kind of a toss-up for me. I can use the handlebars, get bored quicker and quit or not use the handlebars, read and stay on longer, but burn fewer calories.
Monitor
The Stamina 890 Airbike comes with an electronic monitor unit. This unit allows you to monitor your distance (how far you’d have ridden on a regular bicycle on a flat surface), time spent riding, and calories burned.
Stabilizers
The Stamina 890 Airbike comes with wide front and rear stabilizers that keep the unit erect with little side-to-side motion during normal use. This is especially handy in home with small children who like to climb on it no matter how many times they’re told not to.
Fan
The flywheel fan in the front of the Stamina 890 Airbike provides a cooling effect while in use by increasing airflow around your legs. It’s actually quite refreshing.
Wide Seat
I don’t know if you’ve ever ridden on a narrow bicycle seat for any length of time, but if you haven’t let me tell you it’s rather miserable. The wide seat on the Stamina 890 Airbike makes it comfortable to use for a longer period of time, though it does tend to get a bit uncomfortable after a while too.
My Recommendation
I have found the Stamina 890 Airbike to be reasonably easy to assemble, super simple to use, give me a good workout, and to be very well able to stand up to my children’s roughness with it.
I think this is an excellent piece of exercise equipment and I would recommend it highly!
Recommended:
Yes
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